Lone Star Half Iron Man

[Morgatron]

Good luck this weekend everyone!

[nando]

You gonna come stand on a corner this time too?

[Jason_DuBose]

hey guys, please post your results after you all finish today!  I'm working on a paper but I'm really anxious to see how you guys do!

I finished at 1:17, and I have NO CLUE what happened to my swim.  1:52 pace...ugh.  the bike saved me from complete humiliation though haha

[Jillian]

I don't know my time. I did well, but my only goal was to finish and not die. I hit a serious wall at mile 11 of the run. Those last two miles were painful.

[IronJoe]

AWESOME JOB TRIATHLETES!!!  You learn quick that triathlons are a different animal (beast for that matter) and I hope you all had a good time.  It's a great feeling to be able to cross the finish line after all the pain and suffering you put into training.
Ya'll are all up on the web results...
http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=73772&year=2009

[Jillian]

Well I just looked at my time.  Crap.  Age group results aren't up yet though and it just showed my total time, no splits yet.  I was 17 minutes over my goal but I still think I did very well.  It was super windy on the bike.  I was probably 3 or 4 mph slower on average because of that. 

Swim was good, but long.  I drank a lot of salt water and people were bumping me a lot.  It was really cold.  I wasn't too uncomfortable in my wetsuit but my face was numb which made it difficult to breathe.  So I didn't put my face in the water for probably half of it and doggy paddled the rest.  I did acheive my not so lofty swim goal of less than one hour (barely).

Bike was the best part of the race.  I was very careful not to go too hard so that I could have a chance of running 13 miles.  It was really windy though.  And it was really buggy.  I've never been hit in the face so many times while riding.  My swim wave was second to last and I am a slow swimmer so I spent the bike portion picking off people in front of me.  I passed a lot of people on the bike and I was only passed once by someone who just finished changing a tire.  I popped a spoke at mile 51, but I ignored it.

Because of the hurricane the run was a 4 lap loop (5 k each).  First two laps were good, I was moving right along.  The third lap was ok, I was just tired of going around the same loop.  The fourth lap started out well then at mile 11 I hit the worst wall ever.  Those last two miles were total hell.  About a half mile out the crowd started to appear so that motivated me to keep it moving as quickly as possible.  I wonder if it was a bad idea to only train with 10 mile runs as my long runs? 

This was my first half.  Last year my first quarter was at Lone Star.  I can say I felt much better this year during and especially after the race.  I was wiped from the quarter.  I think I am in better shape but I also think that I ate and drank a lot smarter during this race, which I'm sure made a big difference. 

[SHASTA]

Hey Guys!

I had a great time! Here's what happened. I knew that the swim event wasn't my strongest skill, and as it got closer for me to start, I started to wonder, what hell did I get myself into?  That water looked so dark and gloomy, and the course looked long from the shore. Its temperature was around 65 F, which was cold for me! We swam out to the starting line and waited for the crowd and the announcer, they both did a count down for us all. We just went for it!

I was swimming on top of people and we were all getting kicked and thrashed around. On the last leg of the course we all sprinted towards the finish. I didn't want to be the last guy out of the water from my age group.

Transitions was smooth.

The bike leg was smooth. I had a strong head wind going out, going back I picked up the pace. Me and this one girl from Houston were playing this cat and mouse game the whole time. We would rotate and turn back and smile as we passed each other. She eventually took the lead for the last time and went for it and I just couldn't hold on to her anymore. I felt strong the whole way!

The last transition was smooth.

I thought the run would be my strongest leg, but boy was I wrong! I took two steps off my bike and all of a sudden I became human and I felt like I was hit by a damn jet plane! Man was I hurting! This leg was by far the worst! I was cramping up and down my body, I didn't even go half a mile and I had began to develop huge blisters. I finally caught up to my new friend and we ran for some time together but I lost all my steam when my feet touched the ground back at the transition so I fell back! Every step I took felt like I was stomping on hot broken glass! I finally made it after what it seemed like two decades! The crowd really pumped me up and I finished strong!

I wish more people from UH were out there. There were tons of athletes and support from Texas State, LSU, and A&M!!!! LOL anyway I had a great time! This was my second tri, but I say this was the first major one!! It is probably the most extreme 3 hours of my life!! It was TOUGH! DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! LOL!!!

[marcela]

Good job everyone!

[Jillian]

Cesar, my legs protested at the quarter last year exactly like you described.  I started making sure that I did a lot of work where I ran right after I rode the bike.  I wouldn't even call it a brick.  During the winter I would do a spin class then make sure I hopped on the treadmill for a mile and a half or so.  The first mile is usually the worst. 

[ALF]

good job guys!

[nando]

Great job guys!!! 

I'm sorry I wasn't out there for support on Sunday!  I unfortunately had a soccer game and couldn't make it out.

Next year though...I won't be there for support on the side...I'll be right there with yas!!!!

[Jason_DuBose]

i think i see a trend here with all of us from this race.  lets get some serious bricks in before the next race!!  i'm so pumped for the combat tri at the end of may!!  good job everyone!

[ThePrez]

congrats y'all, thanks for all the race reports!